Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine (as seen in the picture below).
Scoliosis occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. If a scoliosis is suspected on examination, we confirm with a spinal x-ray.
Scoliosis
Here are some tips or cues in toddlers to teenagers that indicate that they may have some spinal concerns:
- Are your children’s shoulders level?-Place your hands across the top of your child’s shoulders and compare and check the bottom of the shoulder blades.
- Are your children’s ears level?- Place your pointer fingers under your child’s ear lobes and compare.
- Are your children’s hips even?- Place your hand flat across the top of your child’s hips with your pointer fingers in to the waist.
- Do they walk with one foot turning in or out, or an altered gait? Best checking this when they are unaware.
- Growing pains, headaches, low back pain or neck pain.
- *These same tips/ cues apply also for adults.
*Important to note*
Kids nervous systems are different to adults. So they generally won’t get a warning sign of “pain” as in indicator that something is off in their spine as commonly as we do. No pain doesn’t mean no problem (in adults and kids!)
However having spinal pain e.g headaches, neck pain or low back pain is generally an indicator that something is not functioning as well as it should in the spine.
An example is “growing pains” which is often nerve pain in children, but is felt differently in a child to an adult.
If you are not sure if your child has scoliosis, and have questions about getting your kids checked, just ask, or book them in for an assessment.
I believe it is important to grow healthy kids, rather than fix “broken” ones.
Dr Katelyn Boucher (Chiropractor)